Arctic

 

The Arctic cultural area is a frozen desert located in Alaska, Canada and Greenland. This region includes the Inuit, Aleut, Iñupiat and Yupik people. They are largely nomadic due to the scarcity of available food and travel great distances hunting seal, polar bear and caribou. The Aleut people also have some small fishing communities on the coasts. They use dome shapes houses made of sod, timber or ice. They also use otter and seal skins to make warm, water proof clothing. The people were nearly wiped out by European disease. After the purchase of Alaska in 1867 by the United States only 2,500 Native people remained. The languages spoken in this region are Inuinnaqtun, Inuktitut and Inuit-Inupiaq. The people used, and still use today covered seal skin boats called qajaq for hunting. They are very buoyant and seat a single person. They have been recreated and produced by Americans and are called the Inuit name Kayak. The people also use dogs and dog sleds for transportation. The husky breed comes from Inuit breeding of wolves and dogs to create a hardy dog with extreme stamina that can withstand the brutal weather of the region.